Investigation of the current strategies of teaching vocabulary to young learners

Abstract

This study investigates the vocabulary strategies used by the Libyan teachers at primary schools and the difficulties that they may encounter when they teach English vocabulary. A mixed research approach was used to investigate to what extent EFL Libyan teachers use the effective strategies of teaching vocabulary in their classes and the difficulties they encounter. SPSS software was used to analyse the quantitative data which was gained from the questionnaire, whereas thematic analysis method was used to analyse the qualitative data obtained from the interviews. The findings of the study revealed that the teachers used the appropriate vocabulary strategies weakly and only in few certain strategies when they used them more highly. The problem is that all the teachers in this study were aware of the importance of using appropriate strategies and techniques of teaching English to young learners. The teachers were justified their lack of using these strategies by encounter some challenges when they teach English vocabulary. They summarized these challenges to include; class size, lack of facilities such as; including space, books, and teaching aids and insufficient time during teaching English vocabulary. Thus, teaching English vocabulary would not be developed unless to overcome the challenges teachers mentioned in this study. Based on the findings, some recommendations suggestions for further research are given.